Vegan Pasta Salad with Mayo Dressing

The world of salads is huge – you could almost call it an entire universe. And somewhere out there, there’s a world that’s all about pasta salads. That’s the one we love most, especially in summer. The great thing about salads is that you can keep trying new combinations, like in our Bruschetta Pasta Salad or the vegan Pasta Salad with Pea Pesto and Honeydew Melon. Still, as with so many things, classics always work.

There’s this very specific pasta salad you probably know too: short pasta, lots of mayo, some bell pepper, peas, pickles, bologna-style sausage, and that slightly “saucy” dressing that always showed up at grandma’s and on every kids’ birthday buffet. How much do we wish we could just buy that exact pasta salad at the supermarket? Unfortunately, we’ll probably have to wait a bit longer, so until then, we’ll just make our own dreams come true with this recipe. On top, there are even crispy vegan meatballs and baguette, turning a simple side salad into a full-on grill plate in no time.

How to make the perfect vegan Mayo-Dressing:

The base of our dressing is vegan mayonnaise, which we mix with vegan crème fraîche or plain vegan yogurt, mustard, and a good splash of pickle brine. The pickle brine doesn’t just bring the perfect acidity but also that very specific pickle flavor many of you probably remember from grandma’s pasta salad. The important part is to let the salad rest in the fridge for at least one hour after mixing – that way, pasta, veggies, and dressing really come together and you’ll get exactly that creamy texture you’re looking for. Even better: let the pasta salad sit in the fridge overnight.

What goes into the salad?

We’re staying very close to the classic: short pasta, frozen peas, corn, pickles, red onion, bell pepper, and vegan bologna-style sausage. Fresh herbs – dill, parsley, and chives – are more than just garnish here; they add plenty of freshness to an otherwise rather hearty salad. If you’re not into some of the ingredients, you can swap them easily: instead of bologna-style sausage, vegan Vienna sausages work really well, and you can replace bell pepper with celery. And if you really want to go all in, feel free to toss in some vegan cheese cubes.

What kind of side dishes would we add?

For a proper pasta salad experience, we love serving vegan sausages or meatballs on the side. We like to use the VeggieMix Frikadelle from Bauck Mühle. The mix is organic, based on red beans, and therefore a lovely plant-based protein source that goes perfectly with a salad like this. You just mix it with water and a bit of oil, shape small patties, and fry them in a pan until golden brown – that way, you’ll get a vegan alternative to the classic meat patty without much effort.

Meal prep, Barbeque or other Occasions

Pasta salad obviously screams barbecue, but we think it’s also great for the office or a picnic. You can easily prepare it the day before, and it actually gets even better after resting in the fridge.